Controversial “This is an Xbox” Marketing Campaign Disappears from Xbox’s Website

Microsoft’s ill-fated “This is an Xbox” marketing campaign, which tried to redefine what an ” Xbox ” is in an era where Xbox games are available on more platforms thanks to cloud gaming and Windows-based handhelds, has been erased from the official Xbox website. As spotted by Game Developer, the blog post for the original announcement has disappeared, along with all other articles related to the marketing campaign.

As of this writing, videos for the campaign are still available on the Xbox YouTube Channel, but that may well change. Microsoft kickstarted the campaign back in November 2024, saying: “This Is an Xbox invites people to play with Xbox across multiple devices and screens. It showcases the evolution of Xbox as a platform that extends across devices, with bold, iconic, fun visuals and a light-hearted tone.”

The marketing campaign received a polarized reception as it amalgamated various devices that can’t play Xbox console games natively. Even the Asus ROG Xbox Ally isn’t an “Xbox,” as it’s a Windows-based PC that can only play the PC versions of Xbox games like Halo Infinite or Forza Horizon 5. It won’t be able to play GTA 6 when it’s released on Xbox Series X|S consoles on November 19, 2026.

The Verge’s Tom Warren previously reported that the controversial campaign “offended many Xbox employees internally.” Indeed, telling gamers that they don’t need to buy an Xbox to play Xbox games can only reinforce the sentiment that Xbox hardware is now irrelevant.

The “This is an Xbox” marketing campaign launched when the Xbox marketing team reported directly to Sarah Bond, the former president of Xbox. Bond recently announced her departure from Microsoft after Asha Sharma was appointed as CEO of Microsoft Gaming, replacing Phil Spencer.

Sharma quickly signaled that she wanted the “return of Xbox,” which almost sounded like an admission that Microsoft had lost its focus. “I am committed to ‘returning to Xbox,’ and that starts with console, that starts with hardware,” Sharma said in an interview with Windows Central.

In a couple of years, maybe we’ll remember this “This is an Xbox” marketing campaign as a misstep on the same scale as the “TV” obsession from the Don Mattrick era. The Xbox One never really recovered from these early disastrous presentations, and Xbox Series X|S consoles are now selling even worse than the Xbox One did during the previous console generation.